Fadnavis alleged that the BMC was attributing the deaths of some COVID-19 patients to other reasons and thus suppressing the real toll of the viral infection.
Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Leader of Opposition, Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai’s civic body, controlled by the Shiv Sena is fudging the death toll. He also added that PR agencies and celebrities “are being used to plant a narrative amidst this tough time.”
English version of my letter to Maharashtra CM.#FightAgainstCOVID19 https://t.co/xRFB1uaWCD pic.twitter.com/ebsYogHfLU
— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) May 8, 2021
In a letter he wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Fadnavis alleged that the BMC was attributing the deaths of some COVID-19 patients to other reasons and thus suppressing the real toll of the viral infection.
“The ‘death due to other reasons’ category has to be used only in exceptional cases, like when a COVID-19 patient commits suicide, dies in an accident, is murdered, is brain-dead or a fourth-stage cancer patient,” Fadnavis said.
The BMC was classifying some COVID-19 deaths in this category in a dubious way, the leader of opposition hinted.
Recently, the Supreme Court had praised the BMC for managing the second wave of the pandemic efficiently and asked the Delhi government to get in touch with the commissioner and understand the ‘Mumbai model’.
Fadnavis further said the BMC reported deaths of 683 COVID-19 patients under this “suspicious category” of ‘death due to other reasons’ between February to April.
Also Read: ‘Learn From The Mumbai Model’: SC Lauds BMC, Asks Centre And Delhi To Examine It
This accounted for 39.4 percent of the total 1,773 deaths reported in the city during the period, he claimed.
“In the same period, at least 15,958 people died in the rest of the state and of these, 119 were shown as ‘death due to other reasons, which is 0.7 percent,” he said
Going by recent numbers, it’s become increasingly clear that Mumbai has turned the corner as far as the second wave of COVID-19 is concerned in the city. It recorded 2678 cases and 62 deaths in the last 24 hours and has been reporting less than 5000 cases for more than a week now.
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